Next on my list of catch up, Jormungand. I am so glad I managed to get episode 7 out there before finals overtook my life. …Anyways, Jormungand seems to be building up to… something.

New World (Part 1):

Ah, the CIA. In all of the explosions and car chases in the past few episodes, I kind of forgot that they existed. Scarecrow at least certainly seems like much less of a threat and a nuisance than he was last season. Like the first episode of Perfect Order, this mostly highlighted the side characters, which makes me believe that Jormungand is starting to head towards it’s conclusion. They’ve never had this much plot before. Or if not the end, then something pretty major. I know that the manga has ended, but I have no idea where the anime is in the plot. Back to my original point, the CIA, Bookman certainly hasn’t given up his ambitions to control Koko/HCLI. Probably even more so after Kasper’s announcement.

…Whatever that was about. From what I understood from his grand speech, the satellites that were shot up in episode 1 of Perfect Order are some surveillance system which if used, will save the military around the world a lot of time and money, effectively reducing the need for arms dealers and giving the HCLI a bit of a monopoly on the market. In short, it’s going to affect pretty much every character in the show. Though by the way Koko was completely ignoring the live stream, things are either going completely to plan and she has no worries, or it has nothing to do with her plan for the world at all.

Finally, the title of the series makes sense. …Even if Koko’s plans don’t at the moment. For an episode all about people talking, not much was explained. Oh yes, she has something huge in store for the world that will revolutionize arms dealing, but hell if she’ll ever let anyone other than Minami know. Even Jonah doesn’t know. I would have counted him as the closest person to Koko until this episode, where Minami seems to have been way closer this entire time. It makes sense that Koko wouldn’t want to involve him though since he’s her limiter and her last connection to humanity. The more ignorant he is, the better. Actually, now that I think about it, Lehm and some of the older members of the team might have a general idea. I vaguely remember Echo or someone saying something about Koko needing to complete her plan. As for what her great plan id… I’m waiting in anticipation to learn more about it. My knowledge on weapons and how dealing works is pretty low, so I don’t even want to try guessing what it is or how it will go. All I can say for sure is that Koko is one ambitious woman and I’m sure whatever she’s planning is large scale and insane.

New World (part 2):

I don’t think I mentioned this last episode, but I’m rather surprised at Hinoki making appearances in this arc. I thought that after all of the effort into destroying his former team, he would have stayed with his family. …Though with Koko setting things in motion, it seems to no character is able to keep still.

Koko really is moving forward with her ambiguous plan. From what Bookman and his team said, it might have something to do with a quantum computer. …Now I don’t know if such a thing exists in real life (or if development for one is even in the works) and physics definitely isn’t my strong suit, but I think that Koko’s goals are beyond just creating the newest piece of technology. From everything that’s been said, Koko definitely wants to revolutionize the world… somehow. I think it’s somewhat safe to conclude that the system that Kasper announced the last episode has very little to do with her plan. Judging from Kasper talking about how much Koko dislikes her father, I don’t think she’d want to use his grand plan in hers.

Minami made a good point in the previous episode about Koko naturally gaining trust from people. Despite Lutz having objections over Koko suddenly moving towards her goals, the rest of her team seems to have no problems with it. Of course, Lutz is known for his stronger morals when compared the rest of the team (if you remember back to the Chinatsu episode), but you have to admit that the rest of Koko’s team having absolutely no questions about their boss lady’s goals is pretty admirable. Though that being said, Jonah’s monologues kind of give a feeling that as Koko moves forward with her plans, he’s feeling less close to her. I think a big part of Lutz’s trust in Koko will be explained if we ever see a flashback of how he joined Koko, but until then, I’m wary that he might desert the team or something.

Kasper had a really great line about arms dealers this episode about how arms dealers create wars with one hand and peace with the other. Really, I think that sums up this entire show really nicely. Depending on who they sell to and how they sell, Koko and team could be considered the heroes or the villains of the world. This is also partially why I think Jonah has stuck with Koko for so long despite hating weapons. Koko’s team isn’t like everyone else and everything she does seems to put her team in a positive light, despite all of the killing they do. Bringing back what R said about Koko, in a world of black and white, she somehow remains grey. Will whatever she’s trying to accomplish shift that, or will she maintain her balance? I assume the answer is coming up soon.

So Lutz and Lehm still remain for a in depth backstory episode. I can see this arc going into Lutz since he seems to have problems with Koko, but as for Lehm… I assume that will come when the Hekmatyar family comes together for a great reunion. Since they’ve put so much emphasis on Koko’s dislike for her father, I’m sure they’ll get around to a face off eventually and that will mean a reunion between Lehm and his former employer. I wonder if we’ll ever get a big flashback for Koko too, or if we’ll just have to piece together what they’ve given us overall. I’ve really enjoyed the New World arc so far. Koko has been a dominating presence this entire anime, but she seems close to going all out now. I didn’t even think she could be any more intimidating than she’s been so far, but she’s proven me wrong and I don’t even know what she’s trying to accomplish exactly. I might be let down once her grand plan is revealed, but for the moment, I have complete trust that whatever it is will blow everyone away.

Now that Koko is doing bigger things, I can’t help but wonder if she’s being a bit too ambitious. Her plans haven’t been revealed yet, but she’s such a dominant character now, I have trouble seeing her staying alive at the end of the series, let alone settling down and leading a normal life. I don’t doubt that her plans will work out, but after that, who knows. I… I don’t want this to end. Ever.

Koko seems to be wandering into a trap. …Or maybe she anticipated this.

2 Responses to “Jormungand Perfect Order – 08-09”

The “New World” arc definitely has me interested as to what Koko and Minami have been planning all this time and Koko has become way more intimidating than usual. At least we now know what the title “Jormungand” is meant for. One of the things that always make the anime awesome is the string of conspiricies, kidnapping and underhanded tactics to get the job done, particularly from the manipulating Bookman.

While Kasper is trying to monopolize war itself, whatever Koko has in mind will probably oppose it given she didn’t bother watching his broadcast. One thing the siblings particularly have in common is their resentment for their father. I always get the feeling Koko hates herself for being an arms dealer and her plan involves probably crippling the very arms race, going back to the first season where she says she’s doing this for world peace. After all, her career already cost her the lives of two of her bodyguards.

The scenes that had me utterly laughing were the one where grown women like Mildo and Karen fighting in the restaurant while their bosses talk business, the one where Minami says she wants a Jonah of her own and Koko freaks and where Koko, out of nowhere, started fondling Valmets boobs. Even Valmet was surprised whereas I was expecting her to be smiling from that.

I was surprised at Koko taking the offensive. Normally she just does her job and people attack, but now she’s kidnapping and all sorts of other nonsense. I’m wondering how well Bookman is going to undermine her progress. She obviously knows of his existence and the fact that he’s trying to control her/her company. I hope she doesn’t underestimate him.

I don’t think it’s Kasper trying to monopolize so much as their father, Floyd. Kasper himself said that he didn’t like the new direction HCLI was taking. Who will he side with in the end? Who knows. I’d like to know why Koko has such animosity towards her father though.

YES. I never mentioned it, but I loved how Mildo and Karen were having a cat fight in the background, yet none of the other characters even blinked. xD I guess Mildo is a bit of a short fuse, but you’d think that someone would have tried to separate them.